Curating information is the great enabler of retail. In capturing the actionable insights from a mountain of data, information and perspectives, the associate becomes a valuable resource to the customer. When that associate is further able to put those insights into the context of a customer’s needs, wants and aspirations, that value increases significantly for everyone involved.

Knowledgeable shoppers want their information and opinions to be validated by sales associates. A sales associate’s most valuable role in this situation, in the eyes of a retailer, is to augment the customer’s purchase with complementary items, increasing basket size and register ring. This will require sales associates to learn a different kind of selling — one that enhances consumers’ knowledge. Technology may help somewhat, but people skills will still be paramount.

Shoppers have had to get smarter because of the failure retailers must own — not enough investment in personal service. So many have mistakenly over-invested in digital, which is not a panacea in a world where human influence has always mattered, and still matters greatly, in the purchase cycle.

Retailers that plan to invest in associate training would do well to model the training toward filling gaps that their core shoppers identify. Listen first, then train.

Knowledgeable shoppers want to find the product(s) in the store quickly and easily, and that is where the associate can make hay. Help them find what they want, then associates can add to the customer’s knowledge, answer questions and promote complementary items. Last time I was in Target I knew what I wanted, but after spinning around a few times (literally and figuratively) I couldn’t find anyone to help me, i.e. there was no-one from staff bustling about as I used to find. That made the shopping experience frustrating and less pleasurable.

Not all types of shopping experiences require an associate. In areas like luxury goods they are indispensable, but in stores with lower-priced products the value-add of an associate is more muted.

It all comes back to siloed data and omnichannel. When a customer walks in all the associate has access to is what the customer says when, in fact, the customer may be a loyal shopper who’s provided a lot of insights into what they value from the brand by shopping online. Unfortunately, there’s currently no way for the associate to access this useful info. There are startups trying to solve this problem, but we still have a long way to go and no one has made a major dent.

Face it — all shoppers do their online research these days. This is a great thing. Keep online going well and make sure your staff knows where to find the product details they need and has the patience to work with the knowledgeable consumer. These are good omnichannel practices.

From a retail tech perspective, retailers need their order management systems to connect with the communication media their consumers want — to give them updates on when their product is available, whether the order was shipped, if the order is waiting for them in-store, etc. These are now table-stakes, but how many retailers are using them?

The Tulip Retail survey suggests that shoppers think they know more than store associates, and they usually do. Retailers that continuously improve the in-store experience will emerge victorious, but that improvement comes from two directions. First, knowledgeable associates with the ability to truly engage with customers have always played an important role, and that will continue. But that will be supplemented more and more with intelligent technologies like smart shelves and in-store mobile apps that have far more personal data and product information at hand than any associate could possibly possess. Store associates will play more of a dual role — one of personal advisor and one of facilitator in guiding consumers to the added value that those technologies can bring.

An interesting sub-question to this is, “what do shoppers who do not know it all want?” I might be at the head of the lack-of-knowledge class when it comes to shopping at a Home Depot or Lowe’s. I have no idea why my wife would even trust me enough to send me there. I simply do not know what I want or need to fix a problem and am dependent on the sales clerk being able to assist me. I can easily tell when the clerk is unsure of what he is doing and quickly ask for someone else to assist me. When I have found that clerk who is easy to speak with and helpful I know I am walking away with what I need. We need more of that no matter what type store we are shopping in. Most of us, no matter what our profession, need assistance at some point in our shopping and should not try to pretend we don’t.

The fact that the shopper entered the store — which is not a small thing — already suggests he might need some help from a shop assistant, or is unsure about the product he needs because otherwise the shopper would have bought online. Coming to the store, whether a “know-it-all shopper” or a less informed shopper, presents an opportunity to the retailer via shop assistants to help the shopper close the sale, up-sell and cross sell. To do so retailers should invest in better training of their staff, and use technology to enhance the knowledge of the shop assistant regarding the products but also regarding the shopper himself in case he is a loyal or at least a repeat shopper in this store.
Obviously, the level and type of help shopper need varies among retail verticals — in large format grocery stores it’s more about where to find items. In technology based products is about product features and in fashion and luxury, it is about self assurance and high service standards.

I think this is partially missing the point. I don’t think we always need better associate knowledge, we need B&M retailers to mimic what makes eCommerce so appealing to so many shoppers. Tomorrow’s consumers (like my 12 year old daughter) are used to the speed, depth of selection, depth of content, honest reviews, recommended add-ons based on collaborative filtering models that digital affords. The sooner retailers enable their physical experiences to make them feel more like eCommerce, the better. Relying on people to provide that missing link — no matter how well trained or enabled with technology — is only a piece of the winning strategy.

They want not to be stereotyped. No, seriously, I don’t think there is any one thing that all want or that even the same person wants at different times. Sometimes it’s as simple as “what aisle is __ on?” Sometimes it’s as complicated as “my throat hurts, do you have something for it?” Certainly, though, they want the associate to know at least as much as they do about solving their problem(s).

Today’s shoppers are not only more self-sufficient, they are also short on time. Technological implementations such as item level RFID can help retailers aid shoppers quickly who have a specific product in mind, or even make inventory details available online for consumers who don’t reach out to sales associates. It’s a win-win no matter the consumer’s behavior or attitude toward customer service. In addition, consumers crave product details whether they are shopping in store or online. That data needs to be consistent, complete and accurate from the source. Retailers can work more seamlessly with suppliers to ensure consumer satisfaction if they are all working off of one common, interoperable language. Standards-based systems can help achieve much greater efficiencies in this area.